Public utilities provide electric, gas, water or telephone service to customers in a specified area. Utilities have a duty to provide safe and adequate service on reasonable terms to anyone who lives within the service area on without discriminating between customers. Because most utilities operate in near monopolistic conditions, they can be heavily regulated by local, state, and federal authorities. Generally, the local and state agencies are called Public Service Commissions (PSC) or Public Utility Commissions (PUC). Municipal Utilities and Rural Electric Cooperatives may be unregulated though.
Richwoods is an unincorporated community in northern Washington County, Missouri, United States. It is located just off Route 47 about fifteen miles west of De Soto and nineteen miles south of St. Clair. It is the home of former kidnapping victim Shawn Hornbeck.